Ludhiana man arrested with 3 pistols, 1.8-kg explosive

The Ludhiana police have recovered two .32 bore pistols, one .315 bore pistol, 10 bullets and a 1.8 kg explosive from the accused, Harmanpreet Singh alias Harman of Nathowa

Foiling an attempt to disturb law and order in the state, the police arrested a 27-year-old truck driver with a cache of illegal weapons and explosives on Friday.

Police said the Ludhiana man was in contact with radical elements and wanted to execute a blast in the area to disturb law and order.The police are going through his social networking sites to identify his associates and determine out his affiliations with terror groups. A motorcycle without a numberplate has been recovered from his possession. (Representative Image/HT File)

The police have recovered two .32 bore pistols, one .315 bore pistol, 10 bullets and a 1.8 kg explosive from the accused, Harmanpreet Singh alias Harman of Nathowal. The police are going through his social networking sites to identify his associates and determine out his affiliations with terror groups. A motorcycle without a numberplate has been recovered from his possession.

Police said the accused was in contact with radical elements and wanted to execute a blast in the area to disturb law and order.

A case was registered under sections of the Arms Act and sections of the Explosive Act. Inspector Prem Singh, Jagraon CIA staff in-charge, said acting on a tip-off the police arrested the accused while he was riding his bike and seized the explosives.

The accused was produced before the court on Saturday and remanded five days in police custody for questioning. Cops suspect that the accused was connected with Ranjit Singh alias Gora of Nihanga Da Jugga village of Ferozepur, who is a key accused wanted by police in the Jalalabad tiffin bomb blast.

Earlier, on September 17, the police had busted a secessionist module of the banned ‘unlawful association’ Sikhs for Justice with the arrest of Doraha resident Gurwinder Singh. Over 2.8 lakh pamphlets carrying propaganda material related to ‘Referendum 2020’, a printer, spray pump and spray bottles for writing secessionist graffiti on walls, one laptop, three mobile phones and one Honda City car were recovered from possession of Gurwinder Singh after his arrest.

The accused, Harmanpreet Singh, has no prior criminal record. He hails from an economically poor family. His father is a truck driver and he has four sisters. Villagers say Harmanpreet never talked to anyone and would mostly stay in his house. They were shocked to know that the police had arrested him with weapons and explosives. After his arrest, the police also raided his home.